After spending the last 7 months in Budapest, it was time for me to leave. Although I haven’t done much here because I spend most of my time working at home and running, during the past 7 months Jeremy and I did manage to make a few friends. Every Wednesday, Jeremy and I would spend a few hours of our evening with the “Sit & Chat Club.” This is basically a club of older Hungarians who at some point in life have learned English. However, because of lack of usage, many of them are starting to forget. In this club, we would spend the hours just chatting and Jeremy and I were basically the moderators - teaching them new words or correcting them when something was said incorrectly.
Two weeks before my departure, they decided to throw me a really nice farewell party. Kathy, the host of the club and a very talented and rare codex artist, spent a lot of time putting a really nice bag full of Hungarian things for me so I can always remember them and remember Hungary. It was quite touching hearing her say that many years ago when she was much younger, a group of people whom she had met in Germany had given her something very similar. Because it had touched her so much, she told herself that someday she would do the same for someone special. I was quite moved by her story and the fact that I was “special’ after having only known her for a short 6 months.
Sit & Chat group at Fanyűvő
My gift
All things Hungarian
Beautiful card hand painted by Kathy
To add to the wonderful Farewell Party, a group of them decided to take us, over the weekend, to Szentendre (a small town north of Budapest along the Danube Bend). Mary, who works in the tourism business, served as our wonderful guide. It was a short day trip but it was the perfect way for me to say good-bye to my friends.
Enjoying some good langos
